


Like Destiny

by Whedonista93



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Asgardian Darcy, Crossover, Dreams, F/M, Immortality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:40:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25547587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whedonista93/pseuds/Whedonista93
Summary: A world not unlike your home world, but without monsters, without aliens, without superheroes. This world has only human monsters and the undying in your dreams to fight them. - Heimdall tells her.Can you send me? - Darcy asks.
Relationships: Andy | Andromache of Scythia & Quynh | Noriko, Booker | Sebastien le Livre/Darcy Lewis, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 16
Kudos: 156





	Like Destiny

Darcy wakes up in a cold sweat and curses. “Not again.” She forces herself out of bed and grabs a robe before padding barefoot down the bridge to Heimdall.

The guardian smiles kindly at her. “What was it this time, little one?”

Darcy hugs herself and rubs her arms. “All of them. A woman stabbed through the chest. Another woman drowning. A man hanging. Two more men killing each other over and over again. A new woman with her throat slit…”

Heimdall’s lips twitch. “Eloquent.”

Darcy sticks her tongue out and shifts her gaze out over the stars.

“What if I told you I found them?” Heimdall asks quietly. 

Darcy spins toward him. “What?”

“A world not unlike your home world, but without monsters, without aliens, without superheroes. This world has only human monsters and the undying in your dreams to fight them.”

“Can you send me there?”

“Perhaps.”

* * *

Nile wakes gasping and feeling as though her hair is standing on end. She flexes her hand on reflex.

Joe sits up behind Nicky and rubs a hand down his face. “The girl with lightning in her veins?”

Nile nods shakily.

Nicky props his head up on his hand. “We haven’t been able to figure her out.”

“She feels different,” Nile says one day.

“Hmm?” Andy looks up from her newspaper.

“This other woman,” Nile clarifies. “The one Joe says has lightning in her veins. She doesn’t feel like the rest of you. The dreams are different somehow.”

Andy shrugs. “Yeah.”

“You don’t talk about her,” Nile says to Booker one night.

Booker raises an eyebrow.

“The woman. The one that feels different. You all talk about everything. So why not her?”

Booker takes a swig from his flask. “Because she feels different.”

* * *

This earth is similar enough to the earth of Darcy’s origin that she assimilates almost as easy as breathing. As soon as she sets foot on this earth, though, the dreams increase. She sees bits and pieces of their lives every time she closes her eyes. 

Darcy catches up to them at a waterfront pub in England. She gets close enough to catch their names - Andy, Booker, Joe, Nicky, Nile. She picks a booth halfway across the pub and listens to them discussing Booker’s betrayal and determining a punishment.

Approaching them one at a time is not an ideal introduction, especially since he’s on the outs with the rest of the team, but… well, she dreams of him most often anyway. She follows Booker to Paris and watches him drink himself into oblivion for a few weeks before she lets herself into his apartment when he goes out one afternoon.

She simply grins and toasts him with the cup of takeaway tea she brought with her when he comes through his front door with his gun raised. “Afternoon.”

He drops the gun to his side. “You’re her…”

Darcy stands. “You recognize me?”

He sets the gun on the table inside the door. “I dream of you.”

Darcy sighs, relief coursing through her. “I dream of you too.”

He moves to stand in front of her. “We all dream of you, but… my dreams are different.” He raises a hand, but aborts the action halfway through. “I dream of you more, I think.”

Darcy reaches out and grasps his hand, bringing it up to her cheek in invitation.

He brushes his thumb gently over her jaw. “What are you?”

Darcy shrugs. “I don’t know if you’d believe me.”

He raises an eyebrow. “I’m immortal.”

Darcy grins. “What do you know about Asgard?”

He scoffs. “What, like gods?”

“Or something like that.”

“Are you saying that’s what you are?”

“God? No. Asgardian? Yes.”

“What’s your name?”

“Darcy. You’re Booker, right?”

“Yeah.” He steps back then strides to the kitchen, pulling a bottle of liquor from the cabinet.

Darcy strides over and takes it, smashing it into the sink before he can take a swig. “That’s not gonna kill you.”

“It might, one of these days.”

Darcy rolls her eyes. “Look I get it, living forever is hard, but you… you haven’t _lived_ in centuries. You’ve just existed. You don’t have to forget the past, but you have to move on and _live_ , Booker, or what’s the point?”

* * *

“Booker found her,” Nile says over breakfast about a month into Booker’s exile.

Andy nods. “Or she found him.”

“So what do we do?”

Joe shrugs. “He can’t come back yet. She’ll come to us when he does.”

* * *

Centuries of drunkenness, even with his healing factor, takes time to wear off. Booker spends many a night alternately sweating and shivering his way to sobriety. Darcy never leaves his side. When he feels up to facing the world again, they venture out slowly, starting with morning trips to a quaint cafe a few blocks away.

He tilts his head, watching her through the tinted lenses of his sunglasses.

“What’s so fascinating?”

He smiles, genuinely. “You.”

“Why?”

“Why did you come here?”

Darcy rests her hand on her chin. “I’ll answer if you answer something for me.”

Booker closes his eyes. “You want to know why I betrayed them.”

Darcy doesn’t answer, just watches him expectantly.

“I wanted to die. Maybe I didn’t think through the consequences for the rest of them. It was foolish. In hindsight I see that… I have another question, in light of that. Why did you stay with me, knowing that I betrayed the only family I have known for centuries?”

Darcy smiles sadly. “I came here because I felt like I was going crazy dreaming of all of you. I _had_ to find you. I stayed with you because… well, Jane says I’m a bleeding heart. You were broken, so much more than the rest of them. When you live as long as we do… we’re not meant to be alone.”

“I deserve it.”

Darcy sighs. “Maybe. But… Bleeding heart or not, I’m kinda selfish. And I dreamt of you more often than the rest. Andy… she was exhausted and disillusioned. Joe and Nicky had each other. But you… there was no doubt that you all love each other, but you were kind of alone. And a lot of that was your own fault, but I thought I could help with it. I wanted you to see that you could be happy.”

“I am.” He tells her after a moment. “It took me a bit to realize it, but I am happy. For a long time, I think I didn’t realize I could be.”

* * *

About six months into his exile, Booker comes back to their apartment to find Quynh waiting for him. He keeps on hand steadily pointing his gun at her while he sticks his other hand in his pocket and speed dials Darcy. Something about Quynh’s casual, almost friendly, greeting terrifies him.

“Quynh,” he nods. “Andy’s gonna be thrilled.”

Quynh tilts her head. “Will she?”

Booker nods. “Can’t even tell you how much it’s eaten at her, over the years, not bein’ able to find you.”

“She stopped looking,” Quynh retorts fiercely.

“She exhausted all her resources,” Booker fired back. “If you came here looking for some kind of ally against her, you came to the wrong place.”

“I don’t need an ally,” Quynh tells him, stepping forward. “Just information.”

Booker shakes his head. “I won’t help you hurt them.”

Quynh smiles sharply. “It’s adorable that you think you have a choice.”

Darcy slides through the window and flicks a hand out, electricity flying across the room.

Quynh collapses.

Booker tucks his gun in his waistband. “Why do I feel like that would have gone much worse for me without you?”

Darcy winks. “Because it would have. We should tie her up.”

Quynh groans as she comes to, yanking at her bound wrists. “ _What_ did you hit me with?”

Booker spins his chair and straddles it, grinning. “Darcy.”

“What the fuck is a darcy?”

“I prefer who,” Darcy snarks, stepping out of the shadows and leaning against Booker’s shoulder.

Qyunh tilts her head. “You’re not one of us, but you’re tied to us. What did you do to me?”

Darcy shrugs. “I think I’ll keep my secrets for now.”

Quynh leans back. “Well, what are you going to do with me?”

“What were you going to do with Booker?”

“If he was cooperative, take him along for the ride. If he was not, drown him a few hundred times until he was.”

Darcy scrunches her nose.

Booker reaches up and grasps her hand. “Guess I should be even more grateful you were around.”

Darcy leans over to kiss his temple. “Don’t worry. I won’t let the crazy lady have you.” She shifts her gaze back to Quynh. “I think I know what to do with you, though.”

* * *

Booker has been sober for two years, and they’ve been taking jobs together for just over a year, when Darcy loses her patience. “Are you ever gonna make a move?”

Booker’s lips twist wryly and he salutes her with his water glass. “Never had to without a bit of liquid courage, _cherie_.”

Darcy rolls her eyes and stands, moving toward him slowly and deliberately, giving him time to object or move away. He stays in his seat. Darcy swings a leg over his and settles herself in his lap, then lowers her head until her forehead rests against his. “I don’t think I can make a more blatant invitation.”

He sets his glass aside and steadies her with one hand on her hip while his other comes up to twine in her hair. “I’d have to be a much stronger man than I’ve ever claimed to be to say no to an invitation like this.”

“What are you waiting for then?”

He huffs out ruefully. “It’s been a long time, _charmante_. And I’m not good at casual.”

Darcy rolls her eyes. “What gave you the impression I intended this to be casual?”

“I’m a difficult man to live with, Darcy.”

“I haven’t left your side yet. And I’ve seen you at your worst. I’m not going anywhere, Booker.”

Booker swallows. “Sebastien.”

“What?”

His lips twist upward. “If we’re doing this, _cherie_ , I would like for you to use my name, for whatever worth it has left.”

* * *

100 Years Later…

Darcy is at Booker’s side on the beach, holding his hand, when his sentence is up. He almost trips over his own feet when Andy approaches them with the rest of the Guard. He picks her full off the ground and she wraps her arms around his shoulders, laughing.

He sets her on her feet, but leaves his hands on her waist. “You… but… how… fuck, you look good for someone who supposedly lost their immortality a century ago.”

Andy shrugs and squeezes his shoulders. “It came back.”

Booker huffs. “It’s damn good to see you.”

Andy smiles. “You too.”

Nile steps up and shoves Andy aside. “Alright, come on, let the rest of us in here.” She goes up on tiptoe to wrap her arms around him. “Welcome back.”

Booker hugs her back. “Thanks, kid.”

She steps back.

Booker glances over his shoulder at Darcy. She smiles in encouragement. He takes a deep breath and steps in front of Nicky and Joe. “I owe you two an apology.”

Nicky tilts his head. “You already apologized.”

Booker shakes his head. “I owe you a different apology. In the lab… I shouldn’t have thrown it in your face, you two having each other.” He glances back at Darcy again. “I didn’t understand back then what I could have taken away from you.” He holds his hand out and Darcy comes back to his side. “I think it’s time you all meet Darcy.”

Joe smiles. “The girl with lightning in her veins.”

Darcy laughs delightedly. “Is that how you guys described me?”

Nicky nods. “Yep.”

Darcy beams. “I like it.”

“So, Booker,” Joe says. “Lesson learned?”

Booker nods. “A few, actually.”

Joe smiles and offers a hand. “Welcome back.” When Booker takes his hand, Joe hauls him into an embrace.

As soon as Joe releases him, Nicky embraces him. “Good to have you home.”

Nile looks him up and down again. "No flask?"

Booker's lips twist wryly. "Haven't had a drink almost a century."

Andy's eyebrows go high. "Seriously?"

Booker shrugs. "Darcy convinced me living was better than just existing."

Andy nods slowly. "Okay, then... good for you, Booker."

Booker releases a shaky breath and steps back.

Darcy wraps her arm around his waist and leans into his side. “Okay?”

He smiles down at her. “Never been better. Wanna tell ‘em the rest?”

“Rest?” Andy asks skeptically. 

Darcy smiles. “We have a surprise for you, but we can’t give it to you here.”

* * *

Quynh shakes her head. “I changed my mind. I can’t do this.”

Heimdall smiles down at her. “You can, my lady.”

“I was going to hurt them… all of them.”

“That was a long time ago. And you have spent a century with our healers. Do you still bear that hatred toward your family?”

Quynh shakes her head. “No, but the memory of it frightens me.”

Heimdall rests a hand on her shoulder. “Darcy would not allow you near them if she thought you might still bear them ill will. Trust yourself, and if you cannot, trust her.”

Quynh nods. “Okay… I’m ready.”

* * *

Nile frowns at their surroundings. “Our surprise is in the middle of nowhere?”

Darcy swings her leg over the back of Booker’s bike and walks a little further into the field, tilting her face up toward the sky. “Heimdall! Ready when you are, my friend.”

A flash of multi colored light and bit of smoke leave a woman standing in the middle of the field.

Darcy salutes the sky. “Thank you!” She holds a hand out to the woman. “You good?”

The woman nods and Darcy steps away to reveal her to the rest of the group. 

Andy gasps. “Quynh?”

Quynh stumbles forward. “Andromache!”

Andy meets her halfway, and they tumble to the ground in a tangle of limbs.

Joe shakes his head. “We looked for decades. How did you…”

Darcy shrugs. “She found us. Well, she found Seb. Uh, Booker. She wasn’t expecting me. She was… a mess.”

“So, how’d she end up…” Nile points up. “In the sky.”

Darcy snorts out a laugh. “I sent her to spend some time with healers Asgard. She was, uh-”

“Insane,” Quynh supplies from behind her, now standing with her arm around Andy. “I was insane and I was filled with rage and hate.”

“Asgard?” Nicky looks doubtful.

Joe scoffs. “We just saw a rainbow spit a woman out of the sky, my love.”

Booker throws an arm around Darcy’s shoulders and jerks his chin toward the circle burnt into the ground. “Should we do something about that?”

Darcy glances over. “Oh, right.” She steps away and raises both hands, letting lightning flow until the runes disappear into an indistinguishable burnt spot. When she turns back around, the members of the Guard are all gaping at her. Darcy giggles. “I think I should probably be impressed I can shock a group of immortals.”

Booker slings his arm back over her shoulders and drops a kiss to her temple. “You’re one of a kind, _cherie_.”

“I’m gonna puke,” Joe says. “Are we that sappy?”

“Yes!” Everyone answers.


End file.
